The Lod Airport massacre was a terrorist Terrorism attack Attack that occurred Coming_to_be on May 30 , 1972 , in which three members of the Japanese Red Army recruited by the Palestinian group called the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-External Operations ( PFLP-EO ) , attacked Attack Lod Airport ( now Ben Gurion International Airport ) near Tel Aviv , killing Killing 26 people and injuring Bodily_harm 80 others .

Issachar ( Yissachar ) “ Yiska ” Shadmi — the highest ranking official prosecuted Legality for the massacre — stated Statement , shortly before his death , that the curfew and the massacre were planned as phases within an operation to ethnically cleanse Israeli Arabs from the region , and that his trial was staged to protect Israeli political and military elite , including Prime Minister Ben Gurion , from taking responsibility for the massacre .